Why am I going to Ghent?
Ask natives which their favourite Belgian city is and very few will answer ‘Bruges’. Too touristy, too expensive and the food’s rubbish they’ll explain, should you ask their reasons. But Ghent will be a common answer. It has all the characteristics loved by visitors to Bruges (the canals, medieval churches and cobbled streets lined with wooden-shuttered houses among them) but with the additions of abundant quirks, a solid local character to life there, and few tourist throngs.
PHOTOGRAPHS: AST PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN/© ZANNIER HOTELS, FRITES ATELIER, © CHANTAL ARNTS